CASTING HAS CLOSED
CASTING CALL: The Way We Haunt Now
Auditions Due March 31st, 2020
COVID-19 UPDATE: I will accept rolling submissions from April 1-10 for those who need a bit more time due to the pandemic. I’m especially hoping for more auditions for DANNY!
Alt Text: The Way We Haunt Now cover art (a ghostly phonograph on a turquoise brick background with waveforms of the same color).
OVERVIEW
- Production Title: The Way We Haunt Now
- Production Type: Independent Audio Drama
- Writer and Showrunner: Courtney Floyd (www.twitter.com/cannfloyd)
- Project Length: Season One will be 10 episodes, each 20-30 minutes long, and I’m planning at least one (possibly two) more seasons of about the same length
- Production Website: http://hauntnowpod.com
- Email: contact@hauntnowpod.com (for questions only; DO NOT submit auditions to this address)
- Location: Remote only (must have reliable access to a microphone of Blue Yeti quality or better, basic understanding of recording, and access to a quiet recording location)
- Compensation: Primary character roles pay a flat rate of $25 plus a show t-shirt and sticker. Secondary character roles pay a flat rate of $15 plus a show t-shirt and sticker. All roles will be prominently credited.
- If we successfully crowdfund Seasons 2+, all continuing roles will be paid per episode.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Way We Haunt Now is a speculative fiction audio drama about female friendship, found
family, & fighting the narratives that try to define us—even in the afterlife. Oh, and ghosts. Did I
mention ghosts? It follows dual protagonists, Eulalie Reed and Frankie Summerson, on a
crash course toward self-fulfillment and friendship as they struggle to make the most of life and
what comes after. I (Courtney) will be voicing Eulalie.
KEY DATES
- Audition Due Date: March 31st, 2020 ***EXTENDED to APRIL 10th!***
- Callbacks: April 2020
- Table Reads and Recordings: beginning May 2020
- Season One Premier: October 2020
AUDITION INFORMATION
NOTE: All applicants must be 18 or older and
willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and a contract.
Microphone Requirements: 16-Bit Audio at 44.1kHz that can be exported to WAV and MP3 (Blue Yeti or Audio Technica AT2020 USB, for example)
Recording Availability: The Way We Haunt Now will be recorded remotely, but (in most cases) not asynchronously. That means we will need to find recording times that work for every actor in the scene. Weekend availability, especially between the hours of 9-4 Eastern Time (US) would be ideal.
Audition Instructions: Please submit a recording of no more than 5 minutes consisting of no more than 3 takes of the sides provided for the character. Note: Please only audition in your natural accent. Also: Actors with speech differences are welcome to audition for any role.
Please start the recording by stating the name of the character you’re reading. Please do not state your name, as casting will be anonymous. If you have prior voice acting experience, you will have the opportunity to submit a reel of no more than five minutes. Note: Actors of all experience levels are welcome to audition! I’m new at this and excited to grow alongside the team.
Auditions will only be accepted through the form linked below, unless you have made other arrangements directly with me. If you have accessibility concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out via email (contact@hauntnowpod.com) or Twitter (www.twitter.com/hauntnowpod) to make alternative submission arrangements. Auditions submitted through any other means will be deleted unopened.
All audio should be submitted in MP3 or WAV format.
Accessibility: I encourage disabled actors to audition and am more than happy to provide alternative versions of sides (and, if you’re cast, scripts) and other materials to make this process more accessible. Please reach out (contact@hauntnowpod.com) if you have additional accessibility needs.
Content Warning: Although it is overall lighthearted, The Way We Haunt Now is a horror podcast that deals with themes of death, physical injury, violence, alcoholism, powerlessness, anxiety and depression, loneliness, financial instability, and gendered social expectations. Please be aware that if you are cast, you will need to be able to engage in scenes that depict and confront these themes. (But also: we can chat about your self-care needs to make it as stress-free as possible.)
Representation: It is important to me to support diversity in media not just by writing diverse characters, but by casting diverse actors. I am especially seeking auditions from disabled actors, Black and Latinx actors, and actors of marginalized genders. Just to make this very clear:
- Trans men and women are welcome to play any characters whose pronouns they are comfortable with.
- Nonbinary actors can audition for any character as long as they are comfortable with the character’s pronouns (though in many cases, character pronouns can be changed)
- Non-white actors are welcome to audition for any white character, and the character will be adjusted accordingly
- Similarly, disabled actors are welcome to audition for any non-disabled character and the role will be adjusted accordingly
- I will not be casting white actors to play characters of color
- I will not be casting non-disabled actors to play disabled characters
Note: I want to be transparent that I am writing as a cis white woman. While I write about anxiety and depression from personal experience, I have sought feedback from a sensitivity reader in addition to conducting my own research for characters outside of my demographic. Additionally, I hope that actors from marginalized identity groups will feel comfortable providing feedback on their characters. Actors who do so will be credited as diversity consultants and compensated for that additional work (details to be worked out on a case by case basis).
If you are auditioning for more than one character, please complete a separate form for each character:
SUBMIT AUDITION
AVAILABLE PARTS
PRIMARY CHARACTERS
FRANCES MATILDA SUMMERSON (aka Frankie)
Frankie is a Victorian ghost. She’s died of consumption in 1899, but spent the following 120 years trapped inside a phonograph. So even though she’s an old ghost, she feels very new. She spent all of her life following rules, and that’s what she tries to do as soon as she escapes the phonograph. But the rules have never been kind to Frankie, so why would they start now? She is equal parts angry / suspicious and wide-eyed wonder at her new situation.
Age: 20-something
Ethnicity: white (British Accent)
Pronouns: she/her
Orientation: ace
Appears in: episodes 3-10
SIDES
(as if recited from memory): Remember me when I am gone away, / Gone far away into the silent land; / When you can no more hold me by the hand, / Nor I half turn to go yet turning stay. / Remember me when no more day by day / You tell me of our future that you plann’d: / Only remember me; you understand / It will be late to counsel then or pray.
(indignant but still trying to be polite-ish): I’m not sure I appreciate being called antiquated.
(scared and frustrated and close to tears): They can’t hear me. All they can hear is you. I should be angry. I should smash you. But I… I’m so tired of breaking things. And I can’t help but feel like you’re part of me.
MARY BANGS / Narrator
Mary is a ghost with a penchant for wry, sometimes sardonic narration. She’s the defacto leader of our ghostly trio (including Lota and Josie), and has connections and powers the other two don’t have. We don’t know much more about her, except that she feels obligated to keep track of new ghosts and to give them a hand as they’re getting situated in their afterlives.
Age: mid- to late-thirties
Ethnicity: any
Pronouns: she/her
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: all episodes
SIDES
(serious, maybe clinical): No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more.
(explanatory, vaguely humorous): Our story begins 13 and a half years ago, when Jane Gloriana Villanueva was a mere ten years old. It should be noted that at a mere ten years old, Jane’s passions include in no particular order her family, God, and grilled cheese sandwiches.
(wry, amused): What? Things aren’t moving along quickly enough for you? Hold your horses. Even hauntings have lulls.
SECONDARY CHARACTERS
LOTA WILSON (this role is only available to wheelchair users)
Lota is a wheelchair user and animal lover. She’s spending her afterlife rescuing and rehoming spectral labradoodles, wraith raccoons, and other assorted pets and wildlife who’ve slipped the mortal coil but haven’t passed on. She’s sweet and kind so people don’t expect her to be as pragmatic or decisive as she really is. Also: when she’s comfortable with you she can be sarcastic.
Age: will align with actor preference
Ethnicity: will align with actor preference
Pronouns: she/her
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: episodes 5-10
SIDES
(excited, impatient): Yes, yes, I KNOW but––AGAIN––not the point. I noticed a sort of faint wailing groaning creaking crashing sound and I followed it for a few blocks until I found this house. A duplex. Really nice looking. And I peeked into the window and there she was. A frail thing in a big poofy gown. More sound than substance, really.
(sarcastic): You know, when you narrow your eyes like that, you look like Clint Eastwood. And no, not like a prom dress. Like a fancy English dress.
(talking to a dog): It’s okay, girl. We’re here to help.
JOSIE CHALOPEK
Josie isn’t very forthcoming about her past life, but in her afterlife she’s decided to be a seamstress for the newly dead. She’s got a bit of a southwestern accent (think Texas or New Mexico) and mannerisms that suggest she might’ve been a gunslinger when she was alive––which makes her just about the same age as Frankie.
Age: early-twenties
Ethnicity: white
Pronouns: she/her and they/them
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: episodes 5-10
SIDES
(exasperated): Now I know you can drink whiskey and I saw you kill a rat, but all the rest has been talk. I’m not paying for talk. I can get all the talk I need at the Monarch Boarding House.
(sighing): I was just finishing up my Crowley costume for comicon, but I suppose I can take a break.
(cackling): That’s pants alright. A gateway garment to free love and scandal. (Laughs) So, I take it you like them?
CAS BROMLEY
Cas is a PhD Candidate in Psychology working on a field-based dissertation in Perceptual Studies (ghost stuff), much to his advisor’s chagrin. To gather data, he put together a ghost hunting YouTube team, You Haint Seen Nothin’ Yet. He does the research and organizes hunts, and he’s the main host on the YouTube show.
Age: mid-thirties
Ethnicity: will align with actor preference
Pronouns: he/him
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: episodes 4-10
SIDES
Note: This role requires a little bit of singing. The song you’ll actually be singing along to in the show is one I wrote, but for the purposes of this audition, please sing the following chorus and verse from Shakey Graves’s “Dearly Departed” as though you’re singing at the top of your lungs in the car with friends:
Well / You and I both know that the house is haunted /And you and I both know that the ghost is me / You used to catch me in your bed-sheets just a-rattling your chains / Well back then baby, it didn’t seem so strange
But even when one is dead and gone / It still take two to make a house a home / Well I’m as lonesome as the catacombs / I hear you call my name but no one’s there / Except a feeling in the air
(spoken like a YouTube video introduction): This is You Haint Seen Nothin’ Yet, I’m Cas Bromley and along with my team of seasoned specialists I hunt down ghosts and put a stop to violent hauntings. This week, we’re taking a break from our usual content to show you what you can do to prevent those hauntings in the first place. But first, take a second to like and subscribe! And if you’ve got ‘em, leave your ghost-proofing tips in the comments below.
(read as if voicing a text message): Guys, I found our next case.
DANNY GUTIERREZ (this role is only available to Latinx actors)
Danny is a member of the ghost hunting YouTube team, You Haint Seen Nothin’ Yet. His granddad was killed by a poltergeist, and he’s both haunted by that event and looking for revenge. He’s the team videographer and is happy-go-lucky until it comes to questions of what to do with the ghosts the team finds, and then he’s all for extermination.
Age: late-teens or early-twenties
Ethnicity: Latinx
Pronouns: he/him
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: episodes 5-10
SIDES
Note: This role requires a little bit of singing. The song you’ll actually be singing along to in the show is one I wrote, but for the purposes of this audition, please sing the following chorus and verse from Shakey Graves’s “Dearly Departed” as though you’re singing at the top of your lungs in the car with friends:
Well / You and I both know that the house is haunted /And you and I both know that the ghost is me / You used to catch me in your bed-sheets just a-rattling your chains / Well back then baby, it didn’t seem so strange
But even when one is dead and gone / It still take two to make a house a home / Well I’m as lonesome as the catacombs / I hear you call my name but no one’s there / Except a feeling in the air
(read as if voicing a text message): You got a deathwish, Myrtle? ‘Cause I’d like to live to livestream another day, y’know?
(shouting above ghostly roar) No, Myrtle’s right. Something went wrong.
NICK CASTLEWAIGHT
Nick is a member of the ghost hunting YouTube team, You Haint Seen Nothin’ Yet. He is obsessed with protection and weapons and is basically the team brute squad.
Age: early-thirties
Ethnicity: white
Pronouns: he/him
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: episodes 5-10
SIDES
Note: This role requires a little bit of singing. The song you’ll actually be singing along to in the show is one I wrote, but for the purposes of this audition, please sing the following chorus and verse from Shakey Graves’s “Dearly Departed” as though you’re singing at the top of your lungs in the car with friends:
Well / You and I both know that the house is haunted /And you and I both know that the ghost is me / You used to catch me in your bed-sheets just a-rattling your chains / Well back then baby, it didn’t seem so strange
But even when one is dead and gone / It still take two to make a house a home / Well I’m as lonesome as the catacombs / I hear you call my name but no one’s there / Except a feeling in the air
(read as if voicing a text message): Like I said, I’ll bring the weaponry.
(bloodthirsty): Yippee-ki-yay
MYRTLE GRAYSON
Myrtle is a member of the ghost hunting YouTube team, You Haint Seen Nothin’ Yet. They are obsessed with cheez its and do the sound recording on hunts.
Age: twenty-something
Ethnicity: will align with actor preference
Pronouns: they/them
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: episodes 4-10
SIDES
Note: This role requires a little bit of singing. The song you’ll actually be singing along to in the show is one I wrote, but for the purposes of this audition, please sing the following chorus and verse from Shakey Graves’s “Dearly Departed” as though you’re singing at the top of your lungs in the car with friends:
Well / You and I both know that the house is haunted /And you and I both know that the ghost is me / You used to catch me in your bed-sheets just a-rattling your chains / Well back then baby, it didn’t seem so strange
But even when one is dead and gone / It still take two to make a house a home / Well I’m as lonesome as the catacombs / I hear you call my name but no one’s there / Except a feeling in the air
(read as if voicing a text message): I for one am bringing cheez its and a hand recorder.
(Anxious and excited): Cas says the rest of the apartment is pretty clear of EMF. I’m going to tell him to head this way.
PARKER REED
Parker is Eulalie’s younger sister who lives in another state, closer to their elderly parents. She’s high energy, outspoken, and teases the people she likes.
Age: mid-twenties
Ethnicity: will align with actor preference
Pronouns: she/her
Orientation: will align with actor preference
Appears in: episodes 2, 3, 8, 9, & 10
SIDES
(teasing / sisterly prying): Mmmmm. And was this doctor cute?
(singing teasingly): She put a spell on you…
(totally NOT down with the plans): Look. I won’t stop you. But if you get yourself killed, I’m going to make your afterlife a torment. We’re talking AQUA’s “Barbie Girl” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” on repeat for the rest of eternity.
ALICIA DELANY (this role is only available to Black actors)
Alicia is a new resident doctor at the local hospital, is fond of prescribing bourbon to distraught damsels in distress, and is mysteriously knowledgeable about poltergeists. She’s Eulalie’s love interest.
Age: early-thirties
Ethnicity: Black
Pronouns: she/her
Orientation: homosexual
Appears in: episodes 2, 8, 9, & 10
SIDES
(Joking to hide concern): C’mon, you can lie to the doc but you can’t lie to the free bourbon lady.
(Serious, regretful): I’ll explain everything when this is over, Eulalie. I promise. Just, please, be careful in there?
(Lecturing, but not in a mean way): But you came close, and you could again. People die at home all the time. A trip down the stairs. A slip in the bathtub. Houses have all sorts of tricks…
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Huge thanks to the creators of Valence and Kalila Stormfire for making their casting calls / casting processes publicly available as examples for other showrunners. Thanks also to the folks on the Podcasting Problems discord server who gave feedback.